Multiple multiplexer gain-ranging amplifier

ABSTRACT

One hundred low frequency analog signal channels having a very large dynamic range may be amplified to at least half of full scale of a 14-bit analog to digital converter without distortion by an amplifier system that includes a preamplifier for each channel, a filter system for each channel, a gain-ranging multiplexer time-shared between 10 channels, and a second multiplexer that time shares the output of the gain-ranging multiplexers with an instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier. The gain-ranging multiplexer performs part of the multiplexing function and supplies sufficient gain ahead of the second multiplexer, a high speed, higher noise level multiplexer to mask the noise introduced into the system thereby. The output of the system is typically digitized.

3.376.557 H963 ....BWIiSR 3.525.072 811910 Bommel. S40/155D? [72] Y u 3.525.948 811970 Shenefetel. M0/15.50

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Attorney-Hamid L. Deakleretal. (73] Assignee: eiCcqamNew York,N.Y. [221 mea: 1-21, um, e i571 me v n 'z 55085 Onehundredlcw freqncyanalogxignalchxrmels un APPINO l havingaverylargedynamicmngemaybeampedw Heinzell.l.S.Ap\liicatlunDatal atleasthalfoffullscaleofalLbituxalogwdigiul converter-without distortion by an ampler system [63] cmmmm'm'pm of ser No' 864998' Oct' that includes a preamplifier for each channel. a filter '9' 1969' A" l system for each channel, a gain-rmlging multiplexer i time-shared between l0 channels. and a second mul-A im me-fm mshmofw mgm.. [sa 1 nad a smal zas/154, x55; 340/341 An, mmap-W 'h in mmm Sammm ampi tier. The gam-ranma; multiplexer performs pen of the 5.75 R 31m/S5 DP 15's c 15's MC multiplexing function and supplies sufficient gain ahead of the second multiplexer. a high speed` higher noise level multiplexer t9 mask the noise introduced m I 7. Qu

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SIEEI i3 7 I? I I I u Munwnmmmmm -ze ANALOG r ANALOG To DIGITAL CONVERTER (ADCI INPUT "I IIST COMPLEMENT FOR NEGATIVE NUMBERS) s MSB LSB GAIN LOGIC GATES no (ODD'EVEN LOGICAL ONE FOR as.A

COMPLEMENT REPRESENTATION' ADDEFI lla Cm GAIN EITS S 2,4. 2| M E I Y I I V1 I i I I SERIAL OUTPUT SHIFT REGISTER T0 COAX-CABLE g Fn! l j-OATA LINK l SHIFT CLOCK FIG. e

SIGNAL I ROLARITY GAIN AOC SIGN EVEN o AOC CORRECT ODD I CONRLEMENT AOC EVEN- AOC CORRECT IPSSSISUTY ODD o COMPAENENT AOC! COIIIALENENT I DIGITAL POLRITY CORRECTION TECHNIQUE FIG. GA

nu nu WORD OUTPUT BUFFER DIG/TAL TROL Lull.

FIG. 70

GAIN RANG/NG MUL T/PLE LUG/C I0 CHANNEL (Udb. 72db ,24d/b) LGALNL* h 200 C -LL. I w

FROM PREAMFLF/F? AND FILTER CHANNEL l0 CHANNEL 80 CHANNEL 90 CHANNELS 2.12.22, 3.2l A2, S2, 52,72, 82, 92

CHANNELS 4,1824 34445484748494 CHANNELS 5.15.25. 35.45.55.65.758555 CHANNELS 816,26, 35.485868788898 ACHANN .,CHANNEL 20 iCHANNEL 30 1i CHANNEL .40

"'1 CHANNEL 50 :CHER/NEL 60 4CHANNEL 7o CHANNELS 3.13.23.

x CHANNELS 7.17.27.- 32'47. 57. 67. 77.87.97.

:CHAN/3555.78.28. |38. A8. 58. 88. 78.88.98

I'CHANNELS 9.19.29. 39, A9. 59. 89. 79.89.99

mi! -if l El? Q62 .s Snr 2E@ En M H n umm/f GEO mm2 SEE MWAMMW mmm Bmm 5 i mw. mmm E253 .395, i Qq m EEE a. J l Suze.. L I A ,mmm l 4 Q J ,fm2 W Q BGS Lm OG WZZQTU SET GAIN 0F16 0G/c COMMAND ,US-IAVE L '7 DOWN-RANGE THRE'SHOLD I I DETECTOR L DOWN-RANGE' I I I I CLOCK DOWN-RANGE To DOWN-RANGE To AW l GAIN 0F 1 w APFLZCATSONS Trie-i is a continuando-inw to appli carita' cope-riding nppiicatiori, Ser, No. 864,99, filed K Oct. 9, 1969, titled "Time Shared .instantaneous Gain- Ranging Amplifier.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENHON The present invention relates to amplifiers in general; and more particularly, it relates to gain-rang ing amplifiers to be time-shared among many signal sources. ln particular, the signal sources may be seismic signals. and the amplifier would be used to accurately amplify seismic signals collected from any array of geophones.

Seismic prospecting is the technique whereby acoustic energy is put into the earth at one point so that seismic waves propagate down into the earth and reflect or refract from the discontinuities in the background rock structure. Seismic waves are generated by dynamite, vibrators, or other sources of acoustic energy positioned near the earth's surface, and travel down into the earth in all directions, changing speed and direction as they/'encounter different underground rock boundaries. The energy in the incident seismic wave, reflected back to the surface by the boundaries, is called a reflection wave and can yield significant infomation about the geologic structures within the earth.

Seismic reflections are detected at the surface by seismic receivers, such as geophones or hydrophones, that convert acoustic energy to a time-varying electrical signal whose amplitude is related tothe amplitude of ground motion.

Typically, many seismic receivers are set out in a pattern, -called an array, with one or more receivers representing one element or receiving station in the array. The outputs of the' receiving stations can be thought of as a set of time-varying signals with one signal representing an element of a set. Actually, each kseismic data signal usually represents the output of a group ot receivers connected together and so spaced to cancel unwanted horizontally traveling waves.

The electrical signals generated by the geopliones are typically amplified and recorded on some recording medium such as magnetic tape. Signals are recorded during the time period from just prior to the detonation of the explosive charge, iii-,the case of' dynamite, to a few seconds thereafter.

After recordingrthe data must be put into a readily intcrpretable form, such as a seismic section, and it must be interpreted;

The technique of seismic prospecting as described above has been used very successfully in the past fifty or so years. ln fact. it has been so successful that most of the large oil reservoirs that are easily detectable with thc seismic method have been discovered. But even though the large reservoirs have been discovered, it is believed that vast quantities of oil remain yet to be discovered. The undiscovered oil would be contained in many small stratographic traps and other small reservoirs that are largely undetectable by the old. crude scisrmc exploration techniques..

To frm' the criait oli reservoirs, the receiving power of tn: seismic exploration technique must be substannelly improved. o do this, the trend has been increasingiy to use larger arm larger arrays o and :c use digital techniques for both recording the dara and processing it.

The present invention attacks two problems associated with accumulating high resolution seismic data. First, it is essential that the recorded seismic data programmed gain amplifiers or "automatic gain am plif'iers" or more recently gain-ranging amplifiers. By gain-ranging amplifier is meant an amplifier that changes its gain in discrete steps in accordance with some predetemiined plan. Most often, theenvelope of the amplifier input signal is detected and the gain is changed inzaccordance therewith to maintain the output signal above, some predetermined level. Typically the gain-ranging function is achieved by switching between various feedback impedances in an operational amplifier circuit. The objection to this approach is the long time required for the amplifier to settle after a feedback impedance has been switched. Because of this limitation, the amplifier can react nly very slowly to changes in the input signal. Thus, in the case of seismic reflection signals, the amplier often saturates because it is unable to respond quickly enough to the large change in input signal amplitude.

The most recent attempt at solving the problem isillustrated by the patent to Loofbourrow, U.S. Pat. No. 3.241.100. Loofbourrow teaches an instantaneous gain-ranging scheme that is fundamentally sound but suffers from severe disadvantages thatwould make it inoperable with presentday technology. The I loof-A time caused by switching feedback resistors is avoided. i

But because of the large expense of such an arnplier, system, it is not economically feasible to have one for each seismic channel. Thus, Loolbourrow uses a conventional multiplexing scheme to time-share the amplifier with 43 seismic data channels.

Although the basic concept ofV the .lofbourrw patent as described above is sound, there are several defects that either make it inoperative or undesirable.

l. The Loofnourrow approach does not show any gain in front ofthe multiplexer. Without prcrnultiplcxer gain, much of the seismic information of interest would bc lost in the system noise. For example. about the best multiplexersavailable today introduce at leest lO microvolts of noise into the ievstem But seismic signals are: of intclcl down tti less than l micnwolt Thus. t:

can "ne seen that ieasmzforrfaon up o iii im.: rmexovotm would be 'tml merely Hmm: cithe multiptexer in addition, sence eri instantaneous gainranrrinn scheme n being used. the imiividual stages of? tn: gaireranger must ce wide-band ampliiienz. But ti'ic are they 'introduce additional noise into the Thus. cubatura tialiy more than NK) microvolts of seismic would be lost in the system of bootoourrow.

2. The individual stages ci' lofbourrow's instantaneous gain-ranger appear to be capacttatively1 coupled as indited in FIG. 3 at 182. ACupil stages oi' an instantaneous gain-ranger suffer from the following problem. During any given period of time, any number of stages in the gain-ranger may be limiting. While a given stage is limiting. the capacitive input thereof will be charging. lf, after the capacitive input to a given stage has been charging for sometime, the stage is called upon to operate as the final stage of the amplifier chain. that is in a linear region. it will be unable to do so since the capacitive input must discharge before the amplifier stage can operate linearly. This is important since the gain-ranging amplifier, even if it is not time-shared, is still changing states continuously in response to the input signal level. lri other words, there may be three stages operating or four stages operating, or any number depending on the input signal level; and at any arbitrary time the gain-ranger may change from vone given state to another.` Thus. it can be seen that DC-coupling between stages is an absolute necessity for the proper operation of this circuit. ln the boofbourrow patent, the gain stages are not DC-coupled.

The problem would never be discovered in a typical laboratory testing of the circuit where only sine waves were used as testing signals, since a symmetrical sine wave would charge and discharge the capacitive input in equal amounts. However. any signal with a DC component other than aero. or a signal with a zero DC component but with an asymmetrical configuration would cause the circuit to malfunction. Certainly signals to be expected in seismic prospecting would cause the Loofbourrow circuit to malfunction.

However. coupling DC amplifiers with extremely dicult prcpiticn. Panicularly, i: i: dif ficult to maintain the operating points of the various stages of the amplier within a minimum required tolerance. This problem however. has been solved in a unique manner as described in copending patent application Ser. No. 852.840. filed Aug. 25, l969, and titled ."Fast Settling. Stable Amplifier Circuit." now U.S. Pat.

No. 3.577.090. i

3. 'Finally'. boolbourrow gain-ranges in multiples of 8. That is. each stage in the instantaneous gairi-ranger has a constant gain of 8'. and. as the output of the amplifier system switches from one amplifier stage to another. the total amplification changes by factors of 8. 'This is undesirable because it reduces the resolution of the entire amplifier system. [fthe output of the amplifier lis to be digitized. as is the usual case, a gain of eight is equal to three binary bits. Thus, in an analog-toditzital (A/D) convener. the voltage level would have to drop three bits below full scale before the gain-ranging amplifier would uprange and bring the input to the A/D convener back to full scale. The resolution of the A/D converter is therefore reduced 'by tliret` bits.

premultiplexcr amplification so as to masi: the multiplexer and wide-band amplifier noise.

SUMMARY OF li-ic.E INVENTION The objective of providing premultiplexer amplification to mask the multiplexer and wide-band amplifier noise is achieved in the copending application by a system that utilizes a slow. low noise premultiplexer gain-ranging amplifier in each channel and a single high-speed. higher noise level multiplexer to connect each channel, taken at the output of the premultiplexer gain-ranger, sequentially to an instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier to provide the remainder of the needed gain.

Although this system .is a substantial improvement over the prior art, it has been found possible to improve upon it by a different system that is both smaller-'and cheaper. u

This is achieved in the present invention by a system that uses two levels of multiplexing. A first set of multiplexer gain-ranging stages are provided that multiplex some fraction of the input channels and also supply gain. The output of the multiplexer gain-ranging stages are then time shared with the instantaneous gain-ranging stage by a second high speed. high level rnulv tiplexer. Since the second. high level multiplexer samples the multiplexer gain-rangers sequentially, there is relatively long time between samplings. This time may be used by the multiplexer gain-ranger to step to another input channel, adjust the amplifier gain. and allow for the noise generated thereby to disappear before being sampled again by the high level multiplexer. 'Iltis approach eliminates the need for a premulu'plexer gain-ranging amplifier stage in each channel.

For completeness and clarity. the discussion of the system of the copending application will be repeated. The new system is discussed in connection with FIGS. 10-13.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the premultiplcxer gain ranging amplifier;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the instantaneous gainranging amplifier.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of one stage ofthe instan taneous gain-ranging amplifier,

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating one embodiment of a threshold comparator and switching logic.

FIG. H is :i diagram illustrating thtdigital polarity correction scheme with :i table of values in FIG 2A.

improved El .7529,53 i

FiG. 9 is v:l timing chart for a hundred channel instantaneous wrangling; system sampled over?.I two milliseconds;

FIG. l is a block diagram of the preferred system;

FlG. 1i is a combination circuit and block diagram of the pain-ranging multiplexer;

FIG. l2 is a truth table showin the relationship between the states ofthe gain setting flip-flops and the grain of tite gain-ranging multiplexer; and

FiG. 13 is a timing diagram for the gainranging muitiplexer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODXMENTS put of the sample-andhold cirult that determines die correct gain for each sample and presents an amplified output signal to a l5bit analog-to-digital convener.

The instantaneous gain-ranger also generates a four-bit digital word representing its gainv state. During the sample time, a gain code logic circuit sums the gains from the premultiplexer gain-ranging amplifier of Athe channel being sampled and the instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier and delivers an output word representing the total system gain. A four-blt gain code and a IS-bit digital word are then transmitted serially over a coaxial data link for further processing. ln a. seismic prospect- .ing application. each channel would be connected to the output of a geophone or a group of geophones, and the amplified output of the amplifier system would oe recorded for further seismic data processing.

More specifically, on the from end of each channel is a preamplifier l0. Preampllfier l0 has a transformerless differential input that introduces very little distortion into the signal. The dynamic range is 136 db at a 2- miiiiseconti sampling rate and can accommodate input signals of l volt peak without clipping. The differential input impedance is approximatelylOO ohms and the voltage gain is 20 db. As previously mentioned, a preamplifier stage at `this point is absolutely essential to boost the signal above the noise introduced by either the wide-band amplifiers l-of the .instantaneousgainranger or, in the case of a multiplexed system, to aid in boosting the signal above the noise introduced by the multiplexer. The UA7090-amplifier manufactured by Fairchild has been successfully used for the preamplificr function.

Optional filters l2 include a high and low pass filter and a 60 Hz notch filter. The 3 db cutoff frequencies for the high and low pass filters arc 7 and 55. respectively, with optional settings of 15 and 70 respectively.

Anti-alias filters 14 are included in each channel to eliminate spurious signals that would be generated as the analog-todigital convener sampled high frequency components of the input signal. in a system where an analog signal is to be converted to u digital representation thereof, the analog signal is sampled preferably :il

several points vntfun one wave length. and each samplev 'is then converted to a digital number. ln this process, however. inout signals that have a frequency greater tita'i nali cthe sampling r'ruiuency (often called the Nyquist frequency) appear as a difererice frequency. an alias. Thus. for example if the sampling frequency were 500 cycles per second, a 450 Hz component of the input signal would be transformed into a 50 Hz signal (500 Hz 450 l-lzfi. Thus, a spurious signal in the seismic band would appear. To avoid this problem, all frequency components of the input signal above the Nyquist frequency must be eliminated. Althoughv design considerations may vary widely on the anti-aliiis filter and many designs are known in the art, if the filter output is 72 db or greater below the input for signal frequencies above the Nyquist frequency, there will be no problems. Of course, if the amplifier system is designed to operate at different samplirigfrequencies. it would be desirable to have variable anti-alias lters.

Trie output of each anti-alias filter 14 is connected to a premultiplexer gain-ranging amplifier 16. Func tionally, the premultiplexer' gain-ranger must add sufficient gain to the signal in each respective channel to mask the system noise introduced by the multiplexer, viz approximately l0() microvolts. The premultiplexer gain-ranging amplifier ranges between gains of l, 4. I6.

and 64. depending on the input signal level. When the absolute magnitude of the peak output signal of the premultiplexer gain-ranger drops below 1.2 volts, .the amplifier gain will increase one step at the end of a channel select control signal. lf the absolute magnitude of the peak output signal exceeds 8 volts. the amplifier gain -will decrease one step immediately. provided that the channel is not presently selected by the multiplexer,

. in which case the gain will decrease by one step as the multiplexer moves to the next channel. A more detailed discussion of the premultiplexer gainfranger will be given in connection with FIGS. 3 and 4.

Multiplexer 2l) has the function of sequentially connecting output 18 of premultiplexer gain-ranger 16 to the multiplexer sample-and-hold circuit 22 (s/h l. Since" multiplexers are well known in the electronics art` no further discussion will be given to this particular com ponent other than to say that several commercial units would be satisfactory for the present multiplexer function.

The use of sample-and-hold circuit 22 was found necessary to avoid overload distortions that might otherwise occur in an instantaneous gainranging am` -plifier system due to changes inthe input signal level during the sampling interval. Sample-andhold circuits are well known in the electronics art and any one of a to virtually all variations 'of signal in'pui so that no infor mation is lost due lo amplifier disioriionr` Also resolulltlll l\ lilllflillncii lll lili iiilllliillll $llit`t` ih? lllpll 7. siemlliiasotmextehfmverteraimammriedetornesrfud minimi-intrigue.; bygaiwrangerli'iisaiaciigatalwrdtn gain code iogi: taut 33 where it is combined with th:- gain code 'inieemaiion from prernultioiexe gain-ranger IQTiteoirtputcigaincaieiosiic unitllrts ii four-bit digital word the total amount or' gain supplied by the entire amplifier system for each dimm-l output word generated by the to convener For analog to digital converter a l4-bit plus sign conventional unit, weil 'itnowri in the electronic art, may be used. The output of analog to digital convener 2&3 isa lS-bitwordthatgives the eign and magnitudeof the sample as it appears rit the output 26 of' 'instantaneous gain-ranger 2A. The amount of gain that a given sample has received is indicated by the four-bit output word of gain code logic device 30. The gain code word and ADC output word may then be recorded on magnetic tape or the like foi'- i'urther processing. Or an output bufer and shift register 32 may be used to temporarily store the data before it is transmitted via a data link to some rerriote storage medium.

Control logic unit 34 contains a clock and timing circuits for synchronizing the system. The control function is achieved in a conventional way and is not part of this invention.

FIG. 2 shows the transfer characteristic for the total amplifier system. On the vertical axis two scales are shown. One is thepeak seismic amplifier output voltage and the other illustrates the number of bits of ADC 2S that are used.' The bottom horizontal scale represents pealtv input voltage to the amplifier system. The horizontal scale at the top shows the gain being supplied to the system by the instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier for a given input voltage.' From this graph it can be seen that the amplier system maintains its output within one-bit of full scale for input voltages greater I than l microvolts. Thus the resolution of the system is extremely good.

HG. 3 illustrates the operation of the premultiplexer gain-ranging amplifier. Again the input voltage to the premultiplexer gain-ranger is on the horizontal scale while the output tn the instantaneous me serge: is er. the vertical scale. The horizontal scale runs from l microvolt to l volt and because the preamplifier has an amplification factor of l0 the vertical scale runs from l0 microvolts to l() volts. The RMS noise level of multiplexer is shown by the dotted line at l00 microvolts. As can be seen. the noise is maintained substantially below. the signal level presented to the instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier 24 for all values of' the input signal above l microvolt. For input voltages above approximately one millivolt the multiplexer noise is maintained'SO db below theoutput signal level.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the premultiplexer gain-ranging amplifier. The input signal taken from the iinti-alias filter passes through a capacitor 40 to the noninvening input of operational amplifier 44 which provides a low drift. fixed gain of unity. The output of operational arnplii'ier 44 is taken through FET switch 4t to one input oi' multiplexer 20. The signal from the anti-alias filter is also supplied viii lead 48 to the noninverting input of operational amplifier 50A The feedback resistors conriccretl lo input and output terminals of operational ani 'das percatneittohaveatixedinof. ltsoutputis taken throuiii resistor S2 to the noninvcrting input o.' operational amplifie: in me feedback-1 loop of operational amplifier 5 are FET witches 53. and

2. impending on which of the three FE1' switches 55. 69. and 62 are activated. the gain of amplifier 56 takes on the value oi l. 4. or lo. And the outtnit of amplifier 56 is connected to the output of the premultiplexer gain-ranging circuit via Fel switch 64. Also connected to output 4'/ are the upranging and downranging.

threshold detectors Detectors ii are conventional circuits. commercially available, that detect whether output 47 exceeds 8 volts or drops below l.2 volts. The output therefrom indicating the level of output 47 as described, is transmitted to the ranging logic and switch driver circuitry 68. The function of this circuitry is.

rality of gain stages A, through A. having a precision gain of 6 db. Connected to the output of each precision gain stage A, through A., are output switches S0 through S... The switches are fast, electronic single pole, single throw FET switches. Switches, S, through S, respectively connect the output of precision gain stages A, through A., to an output bus 80. The switch S0 connects the input to amplifier A, with output bus 80. Threshold sensing and logic circuits T, through T.. respectively sense the output o amplifiers A,.t`nrough Afwhile threshold and logicA circuit To detects the threshold of the input to amplifier A The output of thev threshold portion of circuits To through T, is true when the threshold is excded in either the positive or negative direction.

Each threshold circuit is provided with an output" ing which of the switches So through S, wilLbe closed is Si=iXiti m where X@- is the binary variable representing the output of the Ktli threshold circuit. From Equation l it can be seen that the i'irst amplifier in the chain whose output does not exceed the threshold value willl be connected to analog output bus 80. This insures that the output signal remains between 5 and l0 volts until thegainranging capability has been exhausted. The information for determining which stage in the instantaneous gainranger is connected to the output bus and consequently the total gain of the instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier is supplied by circuits To through T.. to ii gain coding matrix 82. The output of gain coding matrix 32 isa four-bit digital word representing the total gain of the instantaneous gain-ranging amplier. The four-bit gain code word is then transmitted to summing networks.

not shown in FlG. 5. where itis combined fith the gain I infomation supplied from the premultiplexer giunranging amplifiers to' form ii single digital word representing the total gain of the amplifier system This word ir; their combined with the digital output of tirs ADC E Trtimoreachsampteciinputtne isadigiial output word of a first par: t'ne tomi supplied by the amplifier system and aconzipeftmriicatingthcnomiaidvaluectn: magnitude ci' the sample.

Fifi. 6 shows a gain stage. Ag, ofthe instaiitaneous amplifier 24. Each stage consists oi an amplifier circuit hav-ing two operational am plifiers in cascade with a feedback network connecting the output of the circuit to the input. Operational am plifier 95 is very low drift. low frequency device. Nominally an amplifier with a drift characteristic as low 2 microvolts per degree is desirable. The noninverting input of operational amplifier 9) is connected through resistor 92 to a r'rieostat 94. Rheostat 94 is part of an offset control circuit consisting of' Zener diodes 96 and 98 with the common point between them grounded.' resistors 100 and 102 and a positive and negative power supply. Typically the power supplies may be l volts and the Zener have a break down voltage of 5 volts. The function ofthe offset control portion ofthe circuit is to supply a very steady dc voltage to the noninverting input of amplifier 90.

l The input to the amplifier gain stage is indicated by reference numeral 1M. impedance 106 is the input irnpedance and point 10S is a virtual ground or summing point. Between summing point 103 and the inverting input to amplifier 90 is connected a resistor 110. The function of capacitor 112 is to take operational amplifier 90 out of the circuit as soon as possible at frequencies above dc since amplifier 90 is only of` interest at dc where it essentially controls the drift of the entire two amplifier circuit combination as will be demonstrated later. For this purpose a 1 micro farad capacitor h .been used to advantage.

The output of amplifier 90 is then supplied via resistor 114 to the non-inverting input of' a second operational amplifier 116. Operational amplifier 116 may have a poor drift characteristic but should have a very fast response characteristic. For example, an amplifier having a 0.01 percent settling within l microsecond has been found desirable. The inverting input to amplifier 116 is also connected via lead 118 to summing junction 168; Output 120 oi' operational amplifier 11o which is 'also the output of the entire gain stage, is fed back to the inverting input of operational amplifier 90 via the parallel combination o resistor 122 and capacitor 124. The function of capacitor 124 is to avoid ringing in the circuit, and for such purposes a 10 picto farad capacitor has been found sufficient. Also connected between the output 120 and summing junction 108 is a clipping 5. circuit 126 consisting of a Zener diode 128 and 4 diodes 130. 132, 134, and 136. Clipping circuit 136 operates to limit the input signal so as to avoid saturation of the amplifier gain stage. The four diodes are so arranged that a single Zener will break down with either a positive or a negative signal. i

ylf the output of amplifier 116 drifts by some small amount, say 100 microvolts. the offset voltage then is applied to the input of amplifier ihrough feedback impedance 122A The polarity of the output signal from amplier 116 is such that the feedback signal reaching amplifier 90th/ill tend to force the circuit to compensate tor the drift. For example. if a positive offset ap- Dcziri :it ll'if: output of amplifier 116. it is transmitted vis back through feeder-.cli resistor 122 andresistor 110 to the negative input or amplifier 99. Since amplifier 96 is a very stable amplifier its output will not neve drifted, Titz: l0() microvot offset will appear across tric input terminals cf amplifier 90 and a large negative signal equal to 100 microvolts times the open-loop gain of amplifier 90 will immediately be supplied to the positive input or' amplifier 1 16. The signal appearing at the output of amplifier 90 will be negative, and when up plied to the positive input of amplifier 116. will tend to dn've that amplifier output in a negative direction and thus compensate for the positive offset due to drift. The effect then of amplifier 90 is to reduce the ofiset ofthe total gain stage system by the gain of amplifier 90.

However at high frequencies, the effect of capacitor 112 becomes significant; and amplifier 90 is well out of the circuit at sampling frequencies.

FIG. 7 illustrates a threshold detector and logic switching scheme that may be used with the instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier. ln accordance with the above discussion, the amplifiers A, through A each include both amplifiers 90 and 116 of FIG. 6. In FIG. 7 the output of the Kth amplifier, Ai., is detected by a bipolar threshold comparator circuit consisting of a positive source of voltage, a resistor 142.121 negative source of'voltage. resistor 144, diodes 146 and 148 and operational amplifier 150. The voltage supplies and diodes 146 and 148 operate to clamp-.the inputsto operational 150 a predetermined voltage level.

The polarities and amplitudes of the voltage suppliessignal would consequently appear at the output terminal of amplifier 150. The output of amplifier 150 is supplied via resistor 154 to the negativeinput of opera tional amplifier 156. When the output of operational amplifier 150 is negative, a negative lsignal is supplied to the negative terminal of operational amplifie: 155, (the inverting input) and a. positive signal is consequently supplied from the output of operational amplifier 156 to the gate of field effect transistor 166. The arrow on the gate of field effect transistor 160 indicates that the transistor is turned on by a positive signal. Thus when the output of amplifier of stage v-A., has an absolute peak value less than the threshold value controlled by circuit 140, field effect `transistor 160v is f turned on and the output of amplifier A. is connected through the 162 to the analog output bus 80.

lf the output of the Ak amplilicr'exceeds the threshold value determined by circuit 140. the posiV- lne posture or non-inverting input to amplifier 1% istoteeoumutioaccftneAH amplifier Since that stap-e wiZl o: the XFH sagmal will e.: positive. This signal will however be limited to +1 volt by the diodes connected between the 'moins to operational amplifier 156. This ensures that the invertingtemiinalwillbeneptivewitli respecttothepoeitive terminal and that the output will therefore be positive.

Litho iis-H stage is not however. then both inputs to amplifier 156 will be negative. However. the voltage drops acro the diodes are such as to insure that the signal on the positive terminal is more negative than the signal on the negative terminal. This condition ensures that the output of operational amplifier 166 will be negative and consequently that eld effet transistor 160 will remain non-conducting.

The output of operational amplifier 150 is the binary variable, X.. The presence of a signal, Xk. on the output indicates that the output of A* exceeds the threshold value or in other words that amplier A, is limiting.

The input to the amplifier 156 is connected through 'resistor 15S to the logical output from the preceding stageXhb The output of AND-gate 156 is then the Y logical product of X., arid Xim. The output of operational amplifier 156 actuates the gate of field-effect transistor 160. And when operational amplifier 160 is switched into the conducting mode, the output of Ag will be transmitted via lead 162 to analog output bus Since amplifiers A, through A are connected in the inverting mode, the output of all odd numbered arnpliiiers will be negative while the output of all even numbered amplifiers will be positive. This polarity difference must ofcourse be accounted for if the amplifier system is to operate prorly. It' the evenjodd distinc tion were not accounted for, one could be certain of the absolute magnitude of the amplifier output but not the polarity since one would not certain whether an even or odd stage of the amplifier were connected to the output.

The problem is solved in a very simple and unique manner by logic circuitry contained in buter 32. As can be seen from FlG. 1, a signal is supplied from gain code logic 30 to buer 32 indicating whether or not an odd or even stage is connected to the output of the amplificr. The digital correction scheme is shown in FIG. il. The output of instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier 26 is supplied to the input of analog to digital converter 28. ln accordance with conventional practice, negative numbers are represented in one's compliment, and the i sign bit is O for positive numbers, l for negative numbers. The output of the analog to digital converter. consisting of 14 bits plus a sign bit are supplied to logic gates 17. Also supplied to the logic gates is the signal from gain code logic 30 indicating whether an even or the analog to digital convener nnen the signal ispositivenrtdtnegxinstageisodd.

The :eine procedure is earned forward when the j signal are negative. Thus, if the gainstage is even, the output oi the analog to digital convener is correct. li the gain stag: is odd, the output of the analog converter is complemented.

lt'it is desired to lusve the negative numbers in twos complement. a one must be added to the least significant digit of the one's complement. To achieve this objective. an adder circuit 172 is supplied. ln this case. a one would be added in the least significant digit to the ones complement number supplied 'oy logic gates 170. The output of adder circuits 172 is then supplied along with the gain bits from gain code logic unit 30 to a shift register 174. The repetition rate of Athe shift clock for shift register 174 is such that the shift register can accept the I9 bits of digital infomation in parallel form and serially supply them to an output coaxial data link. Obviously, if twos complement representation is unnecessary, adder 172 would also be unnecessary.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the organization of the present invention. Again alOO-channel system is illustrated as an example although the concepts of the inveniion would apply to a system with any number of channels. Referring now to FIG. 10, a gain-ranging multiplexer 200 is provided for each l0 input channels (taken at the lter output). I-

Each of the l0 gain-ranging multiplexers performs the multiplexing function and supplies part of the gainranging amplilicau'on for l0 inpult channels. The gainranging multiplexer input channels are spaced l0 seismic input channels apart. That is, a typicalv gain ranging multiplexer will service channels 00. 10, 20,

30, 40, 50. 60, 70. and 90, as illustrated in FIG. 10.,

This arrangement allows each gain-ranging multiplexer microseconds in which to settle and` a 10 microsecond sampling time. ln lthis embodiment the premultiplexer gain-ranging amplifier 16 has been eliminated and replaced by gain-ranging .multiplexers 200. Functionally, gain-rangingmultiplcxers 200 must add suicient gain to the signal in eachchannel to mask the system noise introduced by high speed multiplexer Z. Since trie multiplexing repetition rate for the mulaA tiplexer 200 may be a factor of' 10 slower than that for multiplexer 210,.the noise introduced into the system by the gain-ranging multipiexers 200 is relatively small and ample settling time is available. The gain-state of each gain-ranging multiplex is w'ppiied via im zo: to gain code logic device 30. The remainder of the devices in FIG. 10 are the same as those illustrated in FIG. l and will not be further elaborated upon here.

ln the preferred embodiment of FIG. l0, part of the multiplexing function is peromied by the relatively low speed, low noise multiplexers incorporated in the gainranging multiplexers 200. The rest of the multiplexing' function is performed hy high level multiplexer 210 which sequentially connects the output ci gain-ranging multiplexcrs 200 to multiplexer sampleqsnddiold circuit 24.

HG. ll is a more detailed diagram of' a izstiwraruzirtg` multiplexer 200. Ten analog signal input channels numbered G0 90 arc each ciipacitively coupled into the cir`- cuit. lit-cause ol the wry high gains al the amplifier system. even n vcrv small du offset current nt this primi would Tous. a cnpeextivery coupled 'input is However. it is also important to 'zeep the ac input impedance at as losI a level as possibie. These are achieved by the input in configuration as :bon-n. Resistor: 392 and 31MB connect high input 30G to a positive power supply 3&3. Resisters 303 and 316 connect input 3mi with negative power supply 3HE. Typically the resistors 302 and 308 may have values of 100 ohms and resistors 30d and 3l@ may 'have values or 2.000 ohms. Low input 3V: is

. grounded. A pair of electrolytic lcapacitors 316 and 318 have one common terminal and their other terminals connected to the node between resistors 302 and 306 and the node between resistors 308 and 310, respec tively. Electrolytic capacitors may be made with large values of capacitance, but they also have a large leakage current. when connected as shown in FIG. l1, the dc leakage currents of capacitors 316 and 318 tend i to flow between cach other and the power supplies. But

` connectedy via lead 330 to decade decoder 332.

Switching transistors 322 and 326 perform the multiplexer switching action by connecting or disconnect ing input 300 to amplifier 324.

To connect input 300 to amplifier 32A. switching transistor 322 is turned on and switching transistor 326 is turned o. During the time that input 300 disconnected. switching transistor 322 is turned o and switching transistor 326 is turned on so that input 300 isv tied to signal ground. The power for enabling switching transistors 322 and 326 is provided by switch drivers 328 in response to an enabling signal supplied from decade decoder 332 lead 33?. Decade decoder'332 is a conventional circuit capable of decoding a four-bit digital signa! transmitted from decade register 334 into an enabling signal on one of 1ten output lines. ln this example, only output channel of decade decoder 330 is shown connected up to its respective switch drivers and switching transistors. However, in

y reality. each of the remaining nine output channels would be connected to its own respective switch drivers and switching transistors for each input channel. Thus. switching transistors 322 and 326, switch drivers 328. decade decoder 332 and decade register 334 perform the multiplexing function. Timing is supplied via the systems clock and multiplexer sync signal that forces decade register back to a O state on every tenth clock signal. The decade register then counts up to ten in response to clock signals applied by the systems clock via delay 335. (To be explained more fully later). The initie channel select lines 333 may be used to lock onto single channel for diagnostic' purposes. This is achieved b; .setting up the appropriate signals mi the input imc-4 antipulsing the load line.

The gain-ranging amplifier portion ct the circuit con- :ists of operational amplifier 32o and operational amplir'ier 33:5 along with the associated circuitry for deter mining trie gain tnerec.

Amplifier 331:3 is a unity gain'. non-inverting buffer amplifier and capacitor 337 acts as a high pass filter. Amplifier 32o can assume gains of 0, l2 or 24 db depending upon the state of switch and impedance networs. 333 connected in the feedback loop thereof. Since the gain of an operational amplifier is determined by the ratio of the impedance in the feedback loop to the input impedance. the gain of amplifier 32A is determined bythe ratio of the resistance in switch and impedance network 338 to the input resistance consisting of resistor 320 and the on resistance of transistor 322 combined with the equivalent impedance of the input RC network. The resistance of switch and impedance network 338 is determined by the state of several transistor switches located therein. ltrici the state of these switches are in turn determined by enabling signals from decoder and switch drivers 340. A least significant bit (LSB) flip-flop 324 and a most significant bit (MSB) flip-flop 344 supply the digital gain code to decoder and switch drivers 340 in accordance with the truth table illustrated in FlG. 12. The states of flip-flops 342 and 344 may either be set manually' via fixed gain inputs 34S or via the set gain of one logic cir- Y cuit 347 and the set gain of l6 logical circuit 349,

Capacitor 350 is connected in the feedback loop of operational amplifier 324, and functions to reduce the circuit noise.

Connected to the output of amplifier 3'24 is threshold detector 352l This is a conventional threshold detector device and supplies a logic l output if the output of amplifier 324 exceeds i 8 volts.

The output of threshold detector circuit 352 is connected to down range clock 354.A logic l output from threshold detector 352 starts down range lclock 354 provided that the gain of amplifier 3N is not already 0 d'o. Down range clock 354 causes flipt`top 342 and 344 to move the gain code lower in steps until the output of down range threshold detector 352 is a logic 0 (that is when the output of operational amplifier 324 drops below :a volts) or until unity gain is reached. The down range clock 354 is inhibited during the last l0 microseconds of channel time to prevent ranging during the time that the signal is being sampled by the time shared gain-ranging amplifier.

FIG. 13 is the timing diagram for the' l0-channel gain-ranging multiplexer of FIG. l2. The timing diagram shows the coordination between summing multiplexer 210 and one of the gain-ranging multipliers 200,'as well as the sequence of events that talte place in that gain-ranging multiplexer, Referring now to FIG. S. as the summing multiplexer 210 moves away from channel 09, the gain of the gain-ranging multiplexer is setto l attimen.

The gain of amplifier 324 is set to l by set gain ofi logic circuit 347 to maximize the bund width thereof sin that internal noise generated by the switching operations can be absorbed through the amplifn f rather than building up on the input capacitors. 'ihrs essentially Clears the system for the nrt! clutnnel Aller l0 microseconds Llczn caused ht delai tirctm 335.

decade reinste: 334 steps the multipli-rrr virrmtn n E it; the nest criminel. t: this can: channel IC. This in et time mz multiplexer comme: 1(22. Tesi nucrooecooris later et time T13) tzr: nun ci a Plomo of moooumpliier 3M it tet to 16 by het nain of lo logic circuit a "loluocmf mom nnd thereto for sequen- Tnii :ma in: mgm pagina um cui eri-.mp2s al' C Offcftnll @it "1pm 1f' a wel@ www ier 3M and cause the detection und 'topic circuitry S ammollo: wo mflpcoomoam to incrementally step the pain o amplifier 32A; clown an oo orfmooj mom?" havmg n mom and foco' umn n fait; below vous in um mais it im been im mcs mi *www* imm@ bmg switchable between at least two impedance levels. the input to said operational amplifier means con nected to the output of said multiplexer means; j; threshold detector means connected to the output of q said operational amplier means, and means for maintaining thc output oi" said operational assumed tiiatagain et I6 (24 db) 'is too large souiat the output of thresholddetector 352 is true at time is. This caus the down-ranging sequence to begin by t stepping. gain down to 4 at time te. But m'nce thc output o down range detector 352 is still true, down range clock 354 sends out a second pulse at i6. This causes ampllc, 324 w range down o a gain Cll A .amplifier means below a predetermined level. said gain of l on amplifier 32o is communicated to down l5 means bemg connected betweo smo throshold range 354 through inhibit line 356 and thereby stops mmanosaio amplio mfom;

3. The apparatus of claim l wnerein:

the down ranging sequence.

By the time the summing multiplexer 21@ looks at each input channel includes a pair of electrolytxc channel 1G. all of the ranging and switching transients Capaotors connecte m Pam-eli have decayed. As the summing` multiplexer 210 leaves oc bias means oonneoo homo for minimizing the channel 1G, die process repeats itself and charmer 20 is dc lakas Curm qwins therebetween.

selected by the gain-ranging multiplex zoo. it The apparatus o( claim 1 wherein Said sam-fang- While the invention has been particularly shown and mg "I UlllPleX COmPnSeSI described with reference to preferred embodiments a Pul'amy 0f m13t Channel-S,

thereof` it will be understood by those skilled inthe art 25 multiplexer mms com ed ICTCIO for SQUH that the foregoing and other changes in form and X :Onnefmng each 1UP!!! Channel l0 the Output l details may be made therein without departing from the o Sam WUIUPQW mms;

l spirit and scope of the invention. Sam'ragmg ampoef W ComPn5 mg we claim; a. a nrst operational amplifier having its inverting t. A time-shared instantaneous gain-ranging amplii'i- 30 lnP onncled l0 the Output 0f Said mulliplex' er system, ompriginging means, said first operational amplifier having Laplurality of channels. each channel including a feoobaok "'Peoarme Sw'hable beweer al a, a premnlfler least two impedance levels; l i b. a filter ineans operatively attached to said am b* seono operauonal moho" ha-Vmg s p05* pller and l tive input connected to the output of said' first c. at least two gain-ranging multiplexers each havopel'ooonal mplme' Second opcmlonal ing a single output and at least as many inputs amphoe' havmgoumy gam; between them to cover all channels, each of said c' moons for dotectm a threshold Vonage ano solo gain-ranging multiplexer inputs being operative- Ply'ng a ooo-ot s gnal o response thermo" Sad ly connected to one of said filter means. said 40 moaos havmg o moot ooonecleo to he output gainrangiiig multiplexer being switchable ofso-d om amlhe" moaos t between at least two gal-n positions n response d. clock meansY for providingl a series of output i0 the output signal imi or said gain-ranging Clock Pulse? 'n feslon t0 'fm enablm lnPmmultiplexer for each input channel connected Sgnal' Salo 1pm be'ng connected o the ompm thereto; 45 of said threshold detector whereaya iti-ing of 2. a second multilexei means havin a plurality ot oolru'l Pmfs are f 'uppooo by so c oc mean? 'inputs and a sliigle' output, each sof said inputs Pon vmg o ogm! from smo thresholdoe' being operatively connected to the output of one color of said gain-ranging multiplexer?.` said second muleamfwoe logic mcansoonnecd the ompo tiplexer means being adapted to sequentially con- 50 0f Salo Clock means' solo moans hafog a Plural nect each of said gain-ranging multiplexer outputs y of stool@ sul cach compooomg to o por' to the output of said multiplexer switch; ocular 'mWdaooe wel and bFo mtchable 3. a sample and hold means connected to the output boomen son f fosponso to om from of said multiplexer, clock means. flip-flop means further having an instantaneous www@ ampller cmnccd 55 input means for independently setting the state to the output of said sample and hold means, mi mmf; Y i instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier having a pluf mefms Cooneowd o wd npnop means for rality of cascaded 6 db gain stages, an output cirmm3 the mmllogc sono hooofcuit and means for instantaneously connecting a g' dem" no moo dov 'new connected to given gain stage to said output circuit in response the output of Said n'p'noP mpedmc luci. to the input signal level, whereby the output of said 193mg fOr Converting the digital output signal ol instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier remains smo 'p'nop eam o o ompm mi o o within onedigital bit ol' full scale on an anal0ghg upm HMS of amd dem" and mc digital convener. Y inver Z. The apparatus of claim l wherein said gain-rang- 

1. A time-shared instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier system, comprising:
 1. a plurality of channels, each channel including a. a preamplifier, b. a filter means operatively attached to said amplifier, and c. at least two gain-ranging multiplexers each having a single output and at least as many inputs between them to cover all channels, each of said gain-ranging multiplexer inputs being operatively connected to one of said filter means, said gainranging multiplexer being switchable between at least two gain positions in response to the output signal level of said gainranging multiplexer for each input channel connected thereto;
 2. a second multiplexer means Having a plurality of inputs and a single output, each of said inputs being operatively connected to the output of one of said gain-ranging multiplexers, said second multiplexer means being adapted to sequentially connect each of said gain-ranging multiplexer outputs to the output of said multiplexer switch;
 3. a sample and hold means connected to the output of said multiplexer;
 4. an instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier connected to the output of said sample and hold means, said instantaneous gainranging amplifier having a plurality of cascaded 6 db gain stages, an output circuit and means for instantaneously connecting a given gain stage to said output circuit in response to the input signal level, whereby the output of said instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier remains within one digital bit of full scale on an analog-digital converter.
 2. a second multiplexer means Having a plurality of inputs and a single output, each of said inputs being operatively connected to the output of one of said gain-ranging multiplexers, said second multiplexer means being adapted to sequentially connect each of said gain-ranging multiplexer outputs to the output of said multiplexer switch;
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said gain-ranging multiplexer comprises: a plurality of inputs, a multiplexer means connected thereto for sequentially connecting each input to a single output channel of said multiplexer means; an operational amplifier having an input and feedback impedance, said feedback impedance being switchable between at least two impedance levels, the input to said operational amplifier means connected to the output of said multiplexer means; threshold detector means connected to the output of said operational amplifier means, and means for maintaining the output of said operational amplifier means below a predetermined level, said means being connected between said threshold means and said amplifier means.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: each input channel includes a pair of electrolytic capacitors connected in parallel; dc bias means connected thereto for minimizing the dc leakage current flowing therebetween.
 3. a sample and hold means connected to the output of said multiplexer;
 4. an instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier connected to the output of said sample and hold means, said instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier having a plurality of cascaded 6 db gain stages, an output circuit and means for instantaneously connecting a given gain stage to said output circuit in response to the input signal level, whereby the output of said instantaneous gain-ranging amplifier remains within one digital bit of full scale on an analog-digital converter.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said gain-ranging multiplexer comprises: a plurality of input channels; multiplexer means connected thereto for sequentially connecting each input channel to the output of said multiplexer means; gain-ranging amplifier means comprising a. a first operational amplifier having its inverting input connected to the output of said multiplexing means, said first operational amplifier having a feedback impedance switchable between at least two impedance levels; b. a second operational amplifier having its positive input connected to the output of said first operational amplifier, said second operational amplifier having a unity gain; c. means for detecting a threshold voltage and supplying an output signal in response thereto, said means having its input connected to the output of said first amplifier means; d. clock means for providing a series of output clock pulses in response to an enabling input signal, said input being connected to the output of said threshold detector whereby a string of output pulses are supplied by said clock means upon receiving a signal from said threshold detector; e. gain code logic means connected to the output of said clock means, said means having a plurality of stable states each corresponding to a particular impedance level and being switchable between states in response to signals from said clock means, said flip-flop means further having input means for independently setting the state thereof; f. means connected to said flip-flop means for setting the initial logic state thereof; g. decoder and switch driver means connected to the output of said flip-flop impedance level means for converting the digital output signal of said flip-flop means to an output signal on one of the output lines of said decoder and switch driver. 